RIAA Sues 13 Columbia File-Sharers

Thirteen Columbia Internet users are being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegally sharing copyrighted music, the copyright protection agency announced Wednesday.

The lawsuits come exactly six weeks after the Association sent pre-litigation settlement offers to 20 Columbia users via the University threatening to sue the alleged sharers if they did not pay the Association a sum within 20 days. In a press release, the RIAA said that the lawsuits filed "against those individuals who did not settle in the pre-litigation period, when individuals can resolve copyright infringement claims against them at a discounted rate before a formal lawsuit is filed."

Targeted lawsuits were last filed against Columbia users in October, 2005. Including Wednesday's suits, a total of 60 Columbia students have been sued by the RIAA since the first targeted suits were issued to Columbians in April 2005. Thirty-nine of the 47 pre-existing suits have been settled, RIAA spokeswoman Jenni Engebretsen said in March. She said that those who were sued will still be given the opportunity to settle, but at a higher cost than the pre-litigation offers.

"We have no choice but to take the problem of campus music theft seriously," Steven Marks, executive vice president and General Counsel for the RIAA, said in the press release. "Our ability to invest in new bands and new music is seriously threatened by online theft - a problem that remains particularly acute on college campuses. Individuals engaged in illegal file trafficking need to understand that there are consequences for their actions."

While the RIAA has refused to divulge damages they would seek in a lawsuit, U.S. law allows copyright holders to file lawsuits for as much as $150,000 per illegally shared file. The RIAA has also declined to divulge official numbers regarding settlements, but online settlement offers have been reported to be in the range of about $3,500 to $5,000. Of the more than 18,000 that the RIAA has issued since it began suing users in 2003, not one has ever gone to trial, Engebretsen said in March.

Engebretsen said Wednesday that she did not have information regarding how many lawsuits have been filed in total during the new campaign as they are happening on a rolling basis. She said that of the 805 users who were sent pre-litigation settlement offers in the first two waves, more than 330 had settled and that more were in the final stages of settling. The RIAA sent pre-litigation settlement offers to an additional 402 users at 13 campuses, not including Columbia Wednesday. In total, the agency has sent 1,620 pre-litigation settlement offers to college-based users since it began its newest campaign in February.

Also Wednesday, five members of the U.S. House of Representatives-including the ranking members and chairs of the House Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property-sent Columbia a letter encouraging the University to step up its efforts to combat illegal file sharing along with a survey of the University's network practices. The letter was sent to Columbia as well as other colleges with high rankings on the Motion Picture Association of America's and RIAA's respective lists of the "worst-offending" higher educational institutions.

Referring to Columbia's presence on the MPAA's list, a sample letter said University's presence on the there "is a troubling indication that authorized users of your university computer networks routinely utilize your facilities to engage in the theft of copyrighted works. Inclusion … indicates that an institution may need to act urgently to improve elements of its education, enforcement and technology programs."

"While we cannot confirm receipt of the letters, once we do receive them, we will make a careful review of them and we hope to help students avoid such violations," University spokesman Robert Hornsby said in a written statement.